‘Well—so be it! And now, my love, it must be good-bye, for my time is growing very short. Stay!’ he added, and he unfastened from his watchguard a little ring which hung to it. ‘This was my mother’s betrothal ring. Take it from me, in token that you are mine, and I am yours.’
He slipped it upon her finger. It was a hoop of sapphires—the stones which are emblematic of steadfastness and faith, and it had been given by his father to his mother. With that he took her in his arms, and kissed her good-bye in a long, sorrowful kiss; then loosed her and took her to a chair.
‘Stay there,’ said he. ‘It will only make it worse if you come out. I will send Avice to you.’
He was gone. She knew nothing more until she felt another pair of arms about her neck, and heard Avice’s voice choked with tears:
‘He has gone! What shall I do? Oh Jerome, mein Jerome!’
Then her own tears were loosened. The girls wept in one another’s arms, and were comforted.
CHAPTER IX.
ELLEN’S OPINION.
